Veggie sketti

I got inspired today and decided to create something for lunch. Yum! All veggies and so hearty I couldn't finish it! Let me know what you think.

1 onion chopped
Put into skillet with 1 T olive oil. Sauté until almost soft. Add
2 large tomatoes chopped
2 portobello mushrooms cleaned and chopped
2 large handfuls of spinach roughly chopped
1 tsp Italian seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste.

Sauté all ingredients until soft pour over bed of spaghetti squash. Top with Parmesan cheese if desired.

Stir fry

 

I grew up eating this yummy stir fry and have not made it in about a decade. I pulled up the recipe and decided to go for it. Wow it was so good!  My daughter even liked it. The boys not so much, but I guess that's why I made rice too. My daughters comment was "wow I have had so much yummy food today". I asked her what else she had today and she said it was all my cooking. Now that is positive reinforcement!!  News flash!!!  Hubby just came home and ate, he said this is a do again!  Hooray for good recipes!

Sweet and Sour Chicken Stir Fry

1 20 oz can pineapple chunks in own juice
1/4 c brown sugar
1/3 c vinegar
3 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp. catsup
2-3 Tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp grated fresh ginger root
4 chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 bags of frozen stir fry veggies

Drain pineapple and set pineapple aside.  To pineapple juice, add brown sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, catsup, cornstarch, and ginger root.  (You can keep fresh ginger in the freezer and grate off the amount you want, put it back in.  Lasts forever that way!)  Mix and set aside.

In large skillet, add a little olive oil, Brown chicken.  Remove chicken and set aside.  Add veggies to hot skillet and stir fry at medium high heat.  Add a little water if needed to prevent sticking.  When crisp tender add sauce, pineapple and chicken.  Cook until bubbly and thickened.  Serve with rice and chow mein noodles.

Healthy brownies

 

Healthy Brownies.  How could brownies be heathy you ask??  Good question.  Well these are chock full of protein, fiber, gluten free and vitamin rich.  On top of that my kids love them!  Impossible!  Well it's possible!!  The secret ingredient is a sweet potato.  These are very moist and heavy.  So the very discerning of taste and texture may not appreciate them.  However I like it as a guilt free snack!! 

Enough Teasing!  Here's the recipe

1 medium sweet potato, cooked and peel removed

3 eggs

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/4 cup honey

1/2 T vanilla

1 1/2 T coconut flour

4 T cocoa

1/4 T baking soda

pinch of salt

Add all ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth.  Add 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips and blend slightly, or add as a topping after placing in an 8x8 greased baking dish.  

Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.

Enjoy! 

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 23 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories 62 Calories from Fat 42

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 4.7g  7%

Saturated Fat 3.5g 17%

Cholesterol 31mg  10%

Sodium 86mg  4%

Total Carbohydrates 4.0g  1%

Dietary Fiber 1.7g  7%

Sugars 0.6g

Protein 1.8g

Vitamin A 28% • Vitamin C 2% Calcium 1% • Iron 2%

Nutrition Grade C-

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Mini Healthy Pumpkin Donuts

My son really wanted donuts today so I pulled out my trusty donut maker and started looking for the recipe.  Unfortunately I couldn't find it so ended up amending a basic one I found on the internet.  The kids loved these and gobbled them right up!!

Mini Healthy Pumpkin Donuts

1 cup Whole Wheat flour
1/3 cup honey
1 tbsp baking powder
1 egg
1/2 cup milk (almond milk adds a little flavor and is less calories)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup pumpkin

1/2-1 tsp cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice

Mix all together well. Use a small cookie scoop to dish into your mini donut maker. Cook as directed by appliance.

Dust with powdered sugar or other topping if desired.

Nutrition Facts   for 24 servings

Serving Size 23 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories 39       Calories from Fat  3

Total Fat   0.3g

Cholesterol  7mg

Sodium  7mg

Total Carbohydrates   8.6g

Sugars    4.1g

Protein    0.9g

Vitamin A 16% • Vitamin C 0% Calcium 4% • Iron 2%

Nutrition Grade A-

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Whole Grain Personal Pizza

Whole Grain Personal Pizzas. 
I came across a recipe for pizza pretzels on pinterest.  I couldn't get the pretzels to work, and tried them as a calzone and that didn't work.  Finally I made it a pizza crust adding whole wheat flour and flax seed.  Voila!!  Perfection!  Here is my tried and true recipe!  So much fun, and so easy!! 


2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 to 1/2 cup ground flax seed  (I put a bunch in my coffee grinder and it ends up being app 1/3 cup when ground)
4 1/2 teaspoons yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 to 1-1/3 cups Hot water
4 teaspoons Olive oil

Combine flour, yeast, salt and sugar in the bowl of a mixer with dough hook.  Combine the hot water and oil in a measuring cup.  With the mixer running, gradually pour in the hot liquid until the mixture forms a sticky ball.  The dough should be quite soft.  If it feels too dry, add 1-2 Tablespoons of warm water.  Is sticky add a little flour.  Continue mixing until the dough forms a ball and then process for 1 minute to knead.  Sometimes I pull it out and knead by hand a little longer just to get out some aggression!  :)

Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl.  Allow to rest for 10-20 min. 

Break the dough in to 8 equal sections.  Lightly dust your countertop with flour.  Take one ball of dough and roll it out to the desired thickness.  1/8-1/2 inch thick works great!  Place dough onto cooking sheet.  Spread some spaghetti sauce on top.  Dust with Parmesan Cheese, and mozzerella cheese.  Add any additional toppings desired.  Pepperoni, Chicken, Olives, Peppers, Onions, etc.  Dose liberally with Penzey's Pizza Seasoning.  Bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 min or until cheese is bubbly.  Enjoy!!

Taco soup and homemade chips

I love taco soup! It is so easy and definitely one of my favorite soup recipes especially on a cold day.  It warms the belly and is so flavorful!  The absolute secret to this soup is the Penzeys Taco Seasoning.  Once you try this seasoning you will never go back to the packets again!!  This was tonight's dinner and the kids absolutely raved about the chips. In fact I had to create a second batch to keep them all happy.














Taco Soup:

1 lb ground beef, browned
1 can 15 oz diced tomatoes
2 cans black, white or kidney beans
1-2 cans corn
1 small can of tomato sauce
one package of taco seasoning or 4 Tbsp of Penzey's Taco Seasoning

Add all ingredients into a large pot, including liquids.  If you want to decrease sodium rinse the beans and add in water to get to your desired consistency.  Bring to a boil and allow to simmer for about 30 minutes.  You can also do this in the crockpot...allow to cook on low for 4-6 hours.  Add cheese and a dollup of sour cream if desired.  (I also love pepper on it!)

Corn Chips
8 corn tortillas
Olive Oil
Salt to taste

Quarter the corn tortillas.  If you have an oil spritzer spray all of the tortilla pieces until the look moist.  If not pour a tablespoon on the cookie sheet and pull each piece of tortilla through moistening each side of the tortilla, spreading the oil over the cookie sheet.  Sprinkle salt over moistened tortillas and bake at 375 for 12-15 min.  Or until browned.

Enjoy!!

85 Snack Ideas for Kids (and Adults)! - 100 Days of Real Food

Check out this page I found for healthy snack foods. I think I'll have to check out the rest of the blog too! ;)

http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2012/07/31/85-snacks-for-kids-and-adults/

Pumpkin protein pancakes

Pumpkin Protein Pancakes

I got this recipe from a wonderful gal I'm doing bootcamp with.  Stephanie with No Excuses Workouts. I thought they were fantastic, my daughter even loved them. Thanks Stephanie!!
These are so fantastic you could probably just have them plain.  I had yogurt on top.  Mmmm!  Enjoy!

2/3 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup cottage cheese
1 egg
1 egg white
1 T honey
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Blend all ingredients in a blender.  You may need to add water to get to the right consistency.  Continue blending until smooth.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 90 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories                                        141

Total Fat                                      3.1g

Saturated Fat                               0.9g

Trans Fat                                    0.0g

Cholesterol                                56mg

Sodium                                    118mg

Total Carbohydrates                  20.9g

Dietary Fiber                               2.6g

Sugars                                         6.9g

Protein                                        8.3g

Vitamin A 65% • Vitamin C 2% Calcium 4% • Iron 8%

Nutrition Grade A-

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Panda express orange chicken

I was at Costco the other day and came across a bottle of orange chicken sauce. Being a bit of an impulse buyer I put it in the cart.

Tonight looking for something to make for dinner I pulled it out and decided to go for a quick meal.

8 Breaded Chicken Tenders
1 1/2- 2 cups Orange Chicken Sauce


Cook the Chicken Tenders as directed on the package.  Once cooked, break into bite size pieces, or slices.  Heat up The orange chicken sauce in a sauce pan add the cooked chicken pieces.  Stir until sauce gets bubbly and all chicken pieces are well coated. 

Have with rice and veggies on the side.  Very tasty!  Very easy!  Have fun!

Quick and easy roasted potatoes

Red or white potatoes for as many as you want to serve.  I prefer red.

Olive oil

Kosher Salt

Fresh ground Pepper



Cut potatoes into fourths, place onto large roasting pan or baking (cookie) sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil a pinch or two of salt and ground pepper to taste.  Mix on the baking sheet and roast at 450 degrees for about 20-30 minutes.  Or until potatoes are tender.  My daughter who hates potatoes loves these!

Trying email posting

I obvious am not that good at posting lately even though I have some great recipes to add on! So I am going to start posting directly through my email. See if that works better. :)

Here goes!!

Stay tuned for a cherry chocolate fudge recipe that really is dial a flavor fudge! Yum!!

Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies--with a surprise!

I thought I would try my hand at bean cookies.  The dough was a hit so hopefully the cookies will be too.  These lovely things are 117 calories a piece if you make 36 of them. Woo hoo!

1 cup white beans, whole (rinsed and drained if canned)
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs ( 2 T egg powder and 4 T water) Maybe even a little more water--they are a bit chewy...
 1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups oats
1 2/3 (11 oz ) butterscotch chips

Sift flour baking soda, cinnamon and salt together.  Mix beans and sugars together in mixer or separate bowl with beaters.  Continue to beat until you can no longer see large bean pieces.  There will still be a few small bits left.  Add eggs or powder and vanilla.  Add in flour mixture gradually.  Stir in oats and chips.  Drop on to a cookie sheet using a scoop. (I greased my pan they always stick!)

Bake at 375 for 7-8 minutes.  We like ours soft. 

Enjoy!

Nutrition Facts Serving Size 33 g Amount Per Serving Calories 117 Calories from Fat 10 % Daily Value* Total Fat 1.1g 2% Trans Fat 0.0g Cholesterol 11mg 4% Sodium 106mg 4% Total Carbohydrates 23.9g 8% Dietary Fiber 1.7g 7% Sugars 11.9g Protein 3.0g Vitamin A 0% • Vitamin C 0% Calcium 2% • Iron 6% Nutrition Grade C * Based on a 2000 calorie diet
Vitamin A 0% • Vitamin C 0% Calcium 2% • Iron 6%
Nutrition Grade C-